Tag: love

Divine Reset: How to Refresh with God in 2025

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Well, folks. A new year is upon us. Time to take inventory of the good, the bad, the ugly, and yes, the awesome!

For some, 2024 was a rough year, easily worth leaving behind; for others, the year wasn’t so bad, perhaps the kind one can build from. Regardless of your 2024 narrative, there’s a way to find footing and advance with confidence into the new year. While the steps are unique depending on the person and situation, there exists a holy outline from which we can corporately adhere; hence, why I’m sparing no time (and expense) in publishing this post. 😊

As always, let’s plug our nose and dive in…

1. Invite God Into Your Midst 

    If you’re a regular on here, you know Lys and I love this topic. 

    Grow ⬆️ Up: A Call for Us in 2024 (Part 1)
    Full Runnings: A Guide on Referencing God (Part 1)

    Before we can start working on our inner man, we must first connect with God, humbly and often. While ‘come as you are’, a popular phrase in Christian circles, isn’t expressed verbatim in Scripture, the Word is clear how God desires us to invite Him into our brokenness. Interestingly, we find support in both testaments. In Isaiah 1:18, God invites people to come to Him, even if their sins are like scarlet. In Joel 2:32, the prophet declares deliverance to those who call upon the name of the Lord despite the chaos in context. In both instances, God not only offers His availability to engage, but His intention to heal, purify, and restore. 

    Regarding application, we must understand God accepts us ahead of our clean up, not just after. While some gospels preach doctrines of “progress downpayment” in which God requires a degree of level-reaching, when we consider how Jesus prepared and troubleshot during His ministry, we find His love, compassion, and grace was in the moment as well as beyond it. During these times, Jesus always brought salvation to the immediate while encouraging whom He saved to leave their baggage behind and follow Him¹ . To me, this is an inspiring facet of Christ’s presence with people and should be embraced as a model to the believer.

    For starters, Jesus never forced theology and mission upon His audience but rather received them with a tender heart, a firm charge, and in some cases, hands on ministry. Secondly, Jesus anticipated forgiveness and reconciliation wherever He went. Even if it didn’t happen right away, His desire to plant hope in people was crucial to His love being felt along with His call to release the past. Accordingly, if anyone wants to experience radical change, we must see Jesus as foundation and cornerstone to whatever endeavor we launch or sustain in 2025. 

    As for those who hesitate to invite God in regularly on account of prior acceptance, I employ you to daily act in accordance with the grace you’ve received and not undermine it for personal gain. As Hebrews 10:22 confirms, only God can give His children the full assurance of faith while cleansing them from sin. Though the point of salvation is an eternally significant mile-marker, there is no sense in forsaking conviction and tolerating strongholds if what we allegedly confess peaks to the contrary. 

    Bottom line: If we desire to see God’s ways be made straight in our lives, if we want to encounter the totality of His peace and joy² without reducing them as ends from a mean, then invite God into your midst, the unknowns, and the fragility of your circumstances, and watch what He will do. 

    2. Request a Divine Reset

    Once you’ve invited God into your brokenness, submitting applications in prayer is generally the next step. But in the case of a new year, whether you’re looking to jumpstart faith or grow deeper with God, dare to request a divine reset. In Isaiah 43:18-21, God gives an illustration of a divine reset by telling the Israelites He will do something new like they’ve never seen before. After imparting them not to remember the former things in v. 18, we find the new thing one verse later:  

    “I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”

    Using a relatable word picture, God previews His power made manifest; however, it’s important to note the sequence here doesn’t end with a supernatural display but a subsequent call for the people He makes a way for to declare His praise (v. 21). Thus, when we request a reset, we must see the endgame as more than our breakthrough but also an avenue to discover God make known His goodness tot he world. Remember God is not some wishful genie on standby but the author of our redemption and source of our sustenance. Though resets and renewals come in all shapes and sizes, the key is to understand the reason is Him shining at the center of whatever growth we aspire to see. 

    Bottom line: When requesting a divine reset, don’t just ask for it to cover past mistakes, but expect it in the spirit of obliterating obstacles standing between you and God. Sometimes, the reason we find ourselves stuck is because we aren’t in the practice of speaking truth to every lie and fear we face. Eventually, we find ourselves in the mire wondering how we got stymied in the first place. Though setbacks are inevitable, when we cry out for rescue or redemption, may we see with fresh eyes the sovereignty of God straightening His ways while also removing the clutter hindering our awareness of His presence and power. Again, God has a plan and purpose for you. Even if 2025 is an extension of a desert or wilderness season, He is more than enough to meet you as an oasis any time, any place. 

    Selah.

    Stay tuned next time when I’ll share my final two points on how we can refresh with God heading in the new year. Until then, stay safe, classy, and blessed in all you say and do. 

    Footnotes

    1. Laying down our weights in exchange for our cross (Matthew 16:24-26) is how we position God’s paths to be made straight in our lives. This can’t be strived for in our own strength.
    2. Diving in deeper, Paul is clear in his letters how God governs us through peace and motivates us through joy. When we see what God wants to do, when we catch His purposes (and focus less on what our purpose is), the Lord promises there will be joy in the process. This doesn’t negate the challenges we walk through but ensures there will be glory amidst the endurance and perseverance.

    Photo creds: Unsplash, iStock

    Awaiting Advent: The Joy of Perpetual Hope

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    Well, folks, it finally happened.  

    Last week, as I was sipping on some hot brew on a chilly pre-winter morning, my oldest son, Caeden, walked up to me and asked, “Is Santa Claus real?“

    At first, my inner Michael Scott started to blare.

    But after realizing I’d appraised a response years prior, I knew what I needed to do. Citing some Vintage Richard Attenborough from Miracle on 34th Street, I facetiously replied:

    “Santa is more than a whimsical figure who wears a charming suit and affects a jolly demeanor. He’s a symbol. He’s a symbol of the human ability to suppress the selfish and hateful tendencies that rule the major part of our lives. If you can’t believe, if you can’t accept anything on faith, then you’re doomed for a life dominated by doubt.” 

    After a few seconds of awkward silence, I could tell by Caeden’s deadpan demeanor, he needed more clarity. Thus, I restructured my answer.  

    “No, son. Santa is not real based on how he’s portrayed today, but like many of our favorite movies and books, he’s inspired by real people and events.” 

    Satisfied, Caeden dropped the inquiry knowing the intel he obtained days before aligned with my wording. But for me, the moment was far from over. Rewatching the movie, I realized how profound the scene is specifically when one substitutes ‘truth’ for symbol and ‘Jesus’ for Santa. With mental wheels grinding, I started to wonder: Throughout the world, how many have Jesus in their hearts but with the truth suppressed? To those who follow Christ, are we wearing our faith to buzz our spirits or are we letting joy and goodwill organically overflow from being present with people?  

    Weighing the contrast, I considered another cinematic sequence in Home Alone during which Kevin’s mom attempts to secure a flight from Scranton to Chicago.

    Desperate to see her son, she reminds the airline agent that Christmas is a season for perpetual hope and threatens to hitchhike, even sell her soul to the devil to be reunited. In this case, her franticness drives her anticipation, her hope nothing more than a means to an end, a bartering tool for it to be realized. Unfortunately, this can be a popular posture for those facing adversity in December; hence, why we should heed what the Word says about perpetual hope:

    1. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”1 Peter 1:3 NIV
    2. “Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming.” 1 Peter 1:13 NIV 
    3. “Recalling unceasingly before our God and Father your work energized by faith, and your service motivated by love and unwavering hope in [the return of] our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thessalonians 1:3 AMP
    4. “To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Colossians 1:27 NIV
    5. “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.” Hebrews 10:23 NIV
    6. “But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:31 NIV
    7. “…we ourselves, …wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope, we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” Romans 8:23-25 NIV
    8. “I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word, I put my hope.” Psalms 130:5 NIV
    9. “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13 NIV
    10. “It is for this that we labor and strive because we have fixed our [confident] hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe [in him, recognize him as the Son of God, and accept him as Savior and Lord].” 1 Timothy 4:10 AMP

    Taking a systematic approach, we find this version of hope to not only be a glorious fusion between Advent and Immanuel, but a testament to why faith and freedom can co-exist. As Christ’s first coming reminds us, patience carries virtue to the extent it anticipates with, you guessed it, perpetual hope. Not wishful thinking, not warm musing, but a steadfast belief in our Savior who conquered death and is alive today. Knowing He will come again, we engage Christmas by celebrating the incarnation and the eternal relationship we have with Jesus.  

    Yet, as we wait and hope in full, we must receive Christ into our brokenness as we reflect his nature to the world. Often, we undermine or overextend the call we have to emulate Christ to those who need him most during the holidays. Like Kevin’s mom, we see a need for life, a wake-up call if you will, and want to pull hope down from the heavens, put a bow on it, and say ‘Merry Christmas’ as we casually go about our way. If only serving as conduits of hope was that easy.  

    Passive as it may seem, particularly to Elf enthusiasts, the best way to extend Christmas cheer is not singing loud for all to hear, but making bold the name of Jesus, the hope of the world, so those who don’t know him have a chance to see, at the very least, hear. That’s, in part, the beauty of Matthew 12:21. At some point, those who don’t yet believe will find and have a chance to receive hope, even if the sole prompt is the sound of his name. While our goodwill may be genuine in the short term, for it to be effective in the long term, it must be vertically aligned so that our hope may reflect what it personifies, the God of all comfort.   

    Of course, I’m not suggesting I’m as consistent as I need to be with this. I just know the authority I have in Jesus to speak his name while receiving the season as a cue for holy declaration, even during seasons of chaos and crisis. Take it from one who knows what it’s like to hold his child as she takes her last breath, I get how Christmas can trigger the blues at a swifter rate than the reds and greens.  🦋🦋🦋

    But Christ in me, I know the emotional amplification is a testament to why we commemorate this season. In the same way saints of old yearned for a Messiah, we long for him to come again and in the meantime, make straight his ways, to complete the work He’s started in us. Cheesy as it sounds, Christmas truly is a ‘present’ to the believer given it stitches our past to our future. Knowing what God has done before, we can remain active in our hope as divine construction in our hearts and worlds occurs. We can smile as we groan, laugh as we cry, and believe when it doesn’t make sense. We can be present with people even when we feel alone. We can even share the little we [think we] have to offer with another who regards it as plenty. 

    Quite simply, the paradox of Christmas is its lasting legacy. While the light of Christmas is the gift of Jesus, the current in which it flows is its unceasing element compelling us to seek him, to make our hope perpetual, and lay down our doubt, pride, and offenses for heart-healing alternatives. 

    One day we will get there. Until then, the charge is simple: Don’t force the hope this Christmas; reflect it. Don’t burden yourself trying to fix problems outside your control. Rather, refocus on rediscovering and realigning with the One who makes all things new. As for those struggling with grief this Christmas, remember God sent his begotten Son to earth so our literal and spiritual deaths could be reconciled. As timely hymns attest, there’s profound peace to be found when we consider Mary carrying Jesus, a son who was born to die so our loved ones, in some cases, our babies, could live.

    No matter what season or situation you’re in, may what you believe be a transparent means for those on the outside to know there is a God who is love who is there for them. Take joy in your part, but more importantly, your King, who makes a way even when there is no way.  

    Cover photo creds: Chicago Magazine

    I Am Sam: Sometimes Love is All You Need

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    Written 9/10/09; revised 11/13/24

    Last Saturday, as I waited to board a flight to Seattle, a heartbreaking scene unfolded outside my gate entrance. Taking a last-minute call, my eyes beheld a young boy sobbing profusely as he clenched his father’s jacket. Processing the scene, it wasn’t long before the situation became clear.

    The dad, slightly greasy and decorated with tattoos, emanated the type of vibe a father shows when lacking relational depth – his emotional aroma more melancholy than anguish, as if time and circumstances had numbed the grief. Watching tears stream down his son’s face, I couldn’t help but crack. The pure yet raw emotion of the instant captured a snapshot I will never forget.

    Moments later, as I searched for a window seat, I saw the boy a few rows in front of me. I heard a flight attendant utter his name, “Sam” with a tender tone. Apparently, she was not only aware of his flying status but also the distress he was in.

    Passing Sam by, he appeared stunned, glued to the back of his seat with eyes still bloodshot.

    “God, I hate divorce. I hate it, I hate it, hate it,” was all I could internalize.

    Overwhelmed by the visual, I pushed my seat back and began to drift.

    An hour later, I woke up to find an astonishing sight. Cruising by the aisles was Sam, who had decided to assist one of the flight attendants in serving snacks to the rest of the passengers. Once subdued, Sam’s demeanor had completely transformed. Perhaps he was reminded of something positive or received an encouraging word. Whatever the case, Sam’s rapid conversion was nothing short of inspiring.

    Sensing Jesus in the moment, my perspective started to change. While my disdain for divorce was still fresh in my periphery, I couldn’t help but voice gratitude for how God was using the love of strangers to multiply the sentiment. Often, we simmer when we emotionally attach to the victim of a tragic situation. We consider the sufferer and misappropriate our feet in their shoes assuming our anger is somehow a function of advocacy. But when an innocent child like Sam cheers up in the purest sense, you realize even a great tragedy like divorce pales in the face of what God can do to redeem the hurt of something He hates.

    Deplaning the aircraft hours later, I kept a few paces behind Sam walking out of the tunnel. Unlike his boarding, I noted a skip in his step as he scampered to his mother. The real Sam had arrived.

    Fast-forward 15 years later, and Sam occasionally pops into my mind, each time a prompt to pray for minors in the middle to become mighty men and women of God. How many little kids struggling with their parent’s divorce think they are the reason their mommy and daddy are no longer together? How many still bear shame because they weren’t taught how to deal with it? While only heaven knows, it’s that Kingdom I want to extend on earth as far as it be with me.

    As for the rest of us, whether we’re mentors or bystanders in similar situations, we all have a part in sowing compassion to bridge divides in broken families. Regardless of our role, let’s pursue it with excellence.

    God bless you, Sam, for cementing the reminder. 

    Faith in Advance: The Ultimate Trump Card

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    In the sands of American history, there’s arguably no stretch more nerve-racking than the final weeks of October during an election year. Even if you’re not on edge, you can still sense the tensity in the air. With only one week left until Election Night, the curiosity across the country is palpable as anticipation builds and pique nears its peak.

    Like many, I don’t fancy myself with deep political acumen or tempt egocentrism as the center of a finite worldview. If anything, I just want to keep up with the news to know how to pray for my county, city, state, and country. Apart from that, I’m not one to hitch my faith to narratives rooted in intimidation and fear.

    Yet, as for the point of this post, I want to encourage us to anticipate trust in the coming days. Not anger, not disappointment, but vertical confidence ready to be humble. As a wise voice recently reminded me, the time is now not only to have faith in the present…but in advance. While human nature seeks certainty to offset discomfort, to calm the storm ahead of us, when we consider Jesus, we find the opposite. When He was distraught, when the storm was imminent, He counted it all joy to wait on the improbable and believe in the impossible respectively. By His example and the Comforter in tandem, we can receive the gift of faith, pursue the power of prayer, and believe with purity intact for the breakthroughs we crave.

    Having said that, there’s hardly a solution that instantly quenches our anxieties this side of heaven; hence, the call we have to lean on God as we cast our cares upon Him (1 Peter 5:6-7). Among my concerns is the tendency we have to leave the backdoor open for anger, doubt, and entitlement to manifest.

    For instance, in my case, there are times I will declare confidence in prayer yet simultaneously cling to the thought of wrestling with God about our country’s future later on. The conviction here lies in what I’m making room for. While yielding to God is a wise move, if we’re preemptively giving our faith an out, is it really faith at all?

    Regardless of where we stand, we must ask ourselves if there’s anything or anyone outside the divine to which we’re anchoring our trust. If our belief is confined to the moment, in the ways of man, then the holy perspective in which it’s designed to thrive will likely suffer. Far too often, we’re content to reference God as a cause-to-effect, as a reaction to the storm. Little do we know in doing this, we sustain the historic pattern of misappropriating Christ’s identity amid conflict desperate for a worldly king to set us free.

    My charge to us is as we contend for God’s will to be realized in this nation is two-fold:

    1) Let’s recognize the Messiahship of Jesus by anticipating the experience of God out of the present into the future. In doing this, we can create room for our emotions, thoughts, and beliefs to find rest, even if our surface goals and expectations aren’t realized.

    2) Let’s surrender our contingency plans to grapple with God if we don’t see the immediate fruit of our hope. As many social media posts have highlighted, the same God who sent His one and only Son, is still on the throne regardless of the election outcome; however, we must understand this isn’t a call to passivity, but to lift our faith and sow gratitude into our hope for a better tomorrow.

    At the end of the day, God is faithful to establish His purposes through the authorities He appoints and the decisions we make. At the very least, knowing God’s desire to partner with us is not subject to the color of democracy, is enough for me to stiff-arm simmering apprehensions.

    Whatever compels me to lean in, I’m all in.

    Cover photo creds: Gallup News

    Hidden Glory: The Beauty of God’s Wrath

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    Written 1/20/15; revised 9/8/24

    Recently, during a discussion with a local pastor, the following question came up: How would you explain God’s anger and jealousy to a junior higher?

    A fair inquiry since teaching these attributes of God’s character can feel like threading a needle at times. Fortunately, there are practical truths and illustrations ministers can use to teach these qualities.

    For instance, before tackling God’s wrath and jealousy head on, we must define love and God’s identity as love (1 John 4:8). Once this relationship has been established, a young person will understand not only their ‘loved-and-valued-by-God’ identity, but also how love and wrath are not emotions as much as they are choices!

    This in mind, we can…

    1. Emphasize the fact when God gets angry, He gets angry for us, not at us!
    2. Associate free will and eternal separation to God’s respect for human freedom.
    3. Explain anger and jealousy in the context of being the objects of God’s love.

    Once the difference between the “self-ed” individual and the “loved” person has been specified, we can start to cover related topics such as…

    • The connection between freedom and relationships
    • The connection between freedom and God’s authority
    • How God’s authority is another word for His love
    • The danger of independence
    • The insanity of sin
    • The importance of the cross
    • How there can be no love without justice since justice validates love

    Furthermore, if we’re to successfully educate students on this subject, we must contract the wrath of God versus the wrath of man.

    While man’s wrath is emotional and indefensible, God’s wrath is holy and justifiable.

    Often times, when the hearts of men harden, we demand justice as a response to offense; however, when God’s heart hardens, He desires offense to be righted as an overflow of His original design being known. Accordingly, it could be said that within His wrath, He wants us to be free from His wrath! 

    For those who give glory and honor to ‘other gods’, the Bible says He feels a divine jealousy for them (2 Corinthians 11:2). What is this exactly? For starters, let’s consider the rest of 2 Corinthians 11 and how it breaks down. In summary, 

    1. All glory and honor belong to God and God alone.
    2. Although man’s jealousy is often sinful as a function of entitlement, God’s jealousy is upright since it centers on communion with His beloved. 

    In conclusion, addressing the theme of God’s wrath, especially with students, requires precision and order. In this age, many family and academic structures are broken and lack empathy. As pastors, we must understand enemy ploys as any stake where love and wrath are separated and twisted with the tapestry of performance, reciprocity, and tolerance. While the task may be difficult, the freedom we can facilitate is worth the undertaking. 

    Biblical example    : Exodus 11 (Moses & the burning bush – when God says, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I?”

    Real-life example: A God who is rightfully angry can be compared to an athletic coach who is leading an underachieving team loaded with potential. A good coach doesn’t get angry at the players for losing the game. Rather he is jealous for them because he knows they are better than the outcome – that their talent level is better than what’s being realized. He doesn’t give up on his players, but instead pushes them harder and keeps working with them on an individual/team basis.

    Cover graphic creds: Peakpx